GORKI, May 29. /TASS/. Russia will begin the trials of its new Ilyushin Il-112V military transport plane at the end of this year, Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin reported to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.
"At the end of the year, we plan another aviation premiere - this is an Il-112V, a light military transport plane," Rogozin said.
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In the vice-premier’s opinion, the year 2017 has become "rich in aviation premieres." At the beginning of the year, "a MiG-35 fighter jet took to the skies and recently the flights of a Ka-62 helicopter and an MC-21 airliner were held," Rogozin said.
Speaking about the Ka-62 helicopter, Rogozin said that the rotocraft was revolutionary in its design as it was 60% made of domestic composite materials.
"The helicopter’s trials will last several years - two or three years," the vice-premier said.
"The helicopter is being developed as a multipurpose machine. It has many options and a crew of 1-2. It can seat up to 15 passengers, carry two tonnes of cargoes in the cabin and 2.5 tonnes of cargoes on suspended equipment and has a flight altitude of up to 4.5 kilometers," the vice-premier said, describing the helicopter’s performance characteristics.
The new helicopter "is a multipurpose platform and has unique aerodynamic capabilities and thus will be used in very diverse areas, from the Arctic to mountainous terrain as a sanitary and passenger rotocraft," he said.
"It is in the medium segment of helicopters, which we now need, and up until now we have worked with modifications based on the Mi-8 but this helicopter is much lighter and that is why we are linking a whole family of helicopters with it," Rogozin said.
As Russian Prime Minister Medvedev said, the Mi-8 has been in service for long. This is generally a very reliable helicopter but this is the model of the mid-1960s and so new models should emerge to feature new technologies in the helicopter industry. In Medvedev’s estimate, the Ka-62 is precisely such a cutting-edge helicopter.
The Il-112V is a light military and transport plane with a maximum load of up to five tonnes. It is designated to transport personnel, military hardware, various types of armaments and other cargoes. The aircraft can be used at small unequipped aerodromes with both concrete-paved and soil-based runways. The plane is expected to be rolled out in two modifications: for civil aviation (the Il-112T) and military transport aviation (the Il-112V). It was reported earlier that the Russian Defense Ministry wanted to order 62 such planes.